{"paper_id":"1aaf0b54-24a1-408e-8719-9927c5e89a65","body_text":"Association Between Impaired Dendritic Cell Maturation and Uterine Adenomyosis Pain\nABSTRACT\nPurpose\nTo investigate the association between dendritic cell maturation deficits and pain in patients with adenomyosis and explore potential neuro-immune mechanisms.\nMethods\nUterine tissues from 24 patients with adenomyosis (AM) and 15 controls were analyzed. Samples from the endometrial-myometrial interface (EMI) and middle myometrium (MM) were tested. To study the expression of nerve fiber marker (PGP9.5), nerve growth factor (NGF), mature DC (CD83+), and immature DC (CD1a+), the team used immunohistochemistry (IHC) and real-time quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). The correlation between these findings and pain scores was also analyzed.\nResults\nPGP9.5 and NGF expression in both EMI and MM regions were significantly higher in the AM group (p < 0.05), whereas the CD83+/CD1a+ ratio was reduced (p < 0.01). A significant negative correlation was observed between PGP9.5 and the CD83+/CD1a+ ratio (MM: r = −0.650, p = 0.011; EMI: r = −0.812, p < 0.001). VAS scores (VAS) were negatively correlated with the CD83+/CD1a+ ratio (MM: r = −0.851, p < 0.001; EMI: r = −0.814, p = 0.001), but there was no direct association with NGF. Two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed that the disease state (AM) was the main factor affecting the proportion of NGF and DC maturation (p < 0.05), whereas anatomical location had no significant impact.\nConclusions\nBased on our cross-sectional observational study, DC maturation deficits are associated with AM pain, potentially through neuro-immune interactions. However, NGF functions independently of DC. Exploring neuro-immune interactions is a new approach for treating AM-related pain.\nDisclosure\nThe authors confirm that this work has not been previously presented at any conference, nor has it been published in abstract form.\nConflicts of Interest\nThe authors declare no conflicts of interest.\nData Availability Statement\nThe datasets generated and/or analyzed during the current study, including the raw data, are available in the Supporting Information accompanying this article.","source_license":"public-domain-us","license_restricted":false}